GREEN Burials

Tuesday

Oct 14, 2008 at 12:50 PMOct 14, 2008 at 12:53 PM

PRUE SALASKY DAILY PRESS (NEWPORT NEWS, VA.)

Apoplar tree towers above the forest floor, its trunk riddled with holes bored by yellow-bellied sapsuckers. "This one would be great for birdlovers," muses Michelle "Mike" Burcher, director of Makemie Woods, a 275-acre Presbyterian camp and conference center in New Kent County, Va.

She's pointing out the tree as a potential burial site. It's part of a virtually untouched stand of trees, 150 of which have been newly encircled with blue ribbons to indicate their suitability as living memorials.

The peacefulness of the setting - there's a whisper of wind off the Diascund Reservoir that surrounds the point of land on three sides and the crackle and rustle of nature - is what led Jack Lowe, co-founder of EcoEternity Forest, to partner with Makemie Woods, in launching his third burial site for cremated remains, or "cremains."

This particular "green burial" concept, developed in Switzerland and popularized in Germany by Lowe's business partner, Axel Baudach, offers a 99-year lease on a mature tree around which cremated remains are interred in a setting left purposefully natural and untamed. By partnering with Christian retreat centers, a suggestion Lowe adopted from the inspector of cemeteries in California, the forest sites can be protected from cutting or development.

No headstones are permitted, but a single small tag attached to the tree identifies those buried at its base. Suitable trees are selected by a forestry expert for their health and potential to live another 100 years.

At Makemie Woods, these trees include about 11 species, with straightlimbed oak and birch the most plentiful. Those close to the water that might attract the attention of beavers and their destructive ways or those showing insect infestation or other disease aren't considered. The selected trees are scattered over a five-acre segment of the forest, more than half a mile down an unpaved path from the camp's main lodge.

Profits from the lease of trees are split between EcoEternity, which takes care of the marketing and all off-site business, and the Presbytery, which will be responsible for on-site maintenance. "We'll make money, but it's a godly thing to do," says Burcher, who took several months to get approval from her board and from the Presbytery. "It will allow us to keep the woods natural and give children the opportunity to camp and pick wild blueberries."

There are two principal reasons that people choose the memorial tree, or fried wald, as the custom is called in Germany, according to Lowe, a retired U.S. Army officer: "It's so peaceful," he says, gesticulating skyward with both arms. "They're people who hate cemeteries. This reminds them of life." And, it's considerably less expensive, about 25 to 30 percent the cost of a traditional burial. It also has appeal for nonchurchgoers and the unaffiliated. Churches, too, are showing an interest as they run out of their own cemetery space in urban areas.

The combination of protected natural setting and cremains burial allows for a memorial site, along with an ecologically sound - and economically appealing - alternative to a traditional full-body "Victorian" burial which may include embalming of the body, a casket, a headstone and the land space necessary for interment, with all the associated environmental and financial costs.

The growth in cremation is fueled by a number of factors. Economics is at the forefront. Cremation typically costs about 20 percent to 25 percent of a regular burial. Though only about 28 percent of all deaths in Virginia currently result in cremation, the numbers are growing rapidly and it's projected that by 2010, 40 percent will choose it.

As land-use and environmental concerns gather strength in the United States, cremation is increasingly touted as an ethical choice. Then, there's also the increasing acceptance of cremation among all but the orthodox religions, though many, including Catholics and Lutherans, still have strictures against the scattering of ashes.

With its growth has come the dilemma of how to dispose of cremated remains. In Virginia, cremation itself is considered the final disposition of the body. One result of this is that one in three U.S. households are in possession of human ashes, according to the Cremation Association of North America.

This is borne out by Lowe's experience. To date, at EcoEternity's two existing sites, one in Loudoun County, Va., and one in the Poconos in Pennsylvania, 40 percent of his sales have been initiated by people who have "ashes on the mantelpiece." One client held her husband's ashes for 14 years before contacting Lowe, he notes; after selecting a memorial tree, she asked Lowe to pick up the ashes and inter them for her.

Though the company routinely prepares the burial site at the drip line of the selected tree, many choose to conduct the interment themselves.

Lowe has been impressed by the creativity and meaningfulness of ceremonies that he has witnessed.

For Burcher, a n ordained chaplain, the memorial tree concept has appeal both for its eco-friendliness and for its "informality and more creative out-of-the-box approach." Ashes can be interred directly into the earth or in a biodegradable, pressed-cornstarch urn, which takes a couple of years to break down. The placement of the hole, approximately three feet deep and large enough to house the 12-inch by 8-inch urn, is chosen at the tree's drip line between three and six feet from the trunk. This is done in order not to cause damage to the tree's root system and so the tree can receive nutrients from the buried remains. She sees it as a welcome return to a hands-on involvement in death that has largely been lost and that helps the grieving process and gives closure to the grief-stricken.